Last week, Rene Portland fired off a series of complaints to newspapers close to Penn State that have been covering the lawsuit filed against Portland by former player Jennifer Harris.

In the letters, Portland claimed that she has been a victim of 'unsubtantiated information' and a 'negative and highly misleading media campaign' 'orchestrated' by Harris. Portland's orchestrated response, issued through Pittsburgh public-relations professional Matt Doherty, purports to 'set the record straight' by providing 'fair, accurate, and balanced' information for the newspapers' readers.

Portland's rebuttals accuse Harris and her legal counsel of using the case against Portland to 'advance their own agendas'. Portland asserts that Harris is the' first player to file a formal complaint' against her in 26 years. Further, Portland asserts that Harris was dismissed because she did not 'make a positive contribution'.

I really can’t explain why Jennifer Harris was a rare exception. There are details about her conduct when she was on the team that I can't share with your readers at this time due to the litigation...

Lawyers for Jennifer Harris characterized Portland's response as 'clearly in retaliation' to discrimination charges filed by Harris.

We are troubled by Coach Portland's statement to the Centre Daily Times, which is contradicted by the factual record, by Penn State's own internal investigation, and by previous statements made by Coach Portland herself.

Penn State's president Graham Spanier had no comment.